I am the founder and CEO of GirlQuake and the author of the Forbes book “Their Roaring Thirties: Brutally Honest Career Talk From Women Who Beat The Youth Trap.” I was at start-up, speed-up and stay #1 companies in both digital and traditional media, and the executive producer of the inaugural Forbes Women’s Summit. I serve on the boards of female-led organizations and I’m on numerous “people to watch” lists including 21 Leaders For The 21st Century and 40 Women To Watch Over 40. To learn more about me, follow me @deniserestauri.

Sleeping-Bag Coat for the Homeless Leads to a Garment Industry

Veronika Scott is 22 years old and the Founder of The Empowerment Plan, a nonprofit that hires Detroit’s homeless women to make coats for the homeless.

I met Veronika in August 2011 when she spoke at the event my company powered at the United Nations – The International Year of Youth Culmination Celebration. Veronika wowed hundreds of girls and women who were joining together at the UN to create a global force of positive change. She stood at the UN podium and began telling her story: I started off with a college assignment in early 2010 to design and fulfill a need… I live in Detroit… there are 36,000 homeless individuals and 64,000 abandoned buildings… I didn’t need to look very far to find others with greater needs than my own.

Veronika graduated from the College of Creative Studies in Detroit and the next day she flew from Detroit to New York to join me at the Forbes Gallery to share her intimate and passionate story about how she started her company, what motivates her, her mistakes and successes. She’s an amazing young woman who is truly changing the world:

More great news for Veronika – today she was featured in the New York Times. But her story doesn’t end here, this is only the beginning. Over the next few days I’ll be updating this post with “What’s next for Veronika, Detroit and the garment industry.” Check out Part 2 of this Interview.

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Superb! Veronika has a sophistication beyond her years – such wisdom about what it takes to survive in business! Very inspiring indeed. Thank you for show-casing this incredible social entrepreneur Denise.

Detroit Rocks! Thank you Denise for sharing Veronikas story and mission. I’m also a Detroiter and passionate about empowering women and children living in shelters. Maybe someday our paths will cross. oxo

Help the homeless with your garbage! Scrap4homes is a new recycling program that turns your garbage into homes, (& jobs) for the homeless. It’s a simple principle, Scrap4Homes provides a free appliance (& recycling) removal service, collecting donated, appliances (& other recyclables items) and either refurbishes or recycles them for cash. This money is then used to provide financial support to (under funded) homeless shelters and outreach programs and homeless prevention programs. Please help support a real solution to ending homelessness. http://www.gofundme.com/scrap4homes https://www.facebook.com/scrapfor.homes